


Good boy

by edourado



Series: Hell's Kitchen Chronicles [94]
Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, can even be an au, just fluff, kastle - Freeform, nothing else, silly silly fluff, up to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 03:46:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12856059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edourado/pseuds/edourado
Summary: She can't prove it. But she's sure Frank and Max are up to sometihng.





	Good boy

She couldn’t even ask him about it.

It was there. Clear as day. She knew it, knew it like she knew her own name, but she couldn’t ask Frank about it. The one time she tried, he looked at her with such a condescending look in his face, as if she was telling him a joke he didn’t find funny, but smiled anyway to humour her.

But she knew.

Every single time she was out with Max, it was like it wasn’t even Max anymore. When they were inside, he was this big puppy, rolling on his back asking for belly rubs, resting his head on her lap, whining up at her, asking for a treat. Even as she got his leash, attached it to his harness - since Frank hated collars - and climbed down the steps of the building, he was sweet, such a sweet dog, looking back at her all excited, waiting as she opened the door.

The second he put his paws on the sidewalk, it changed.

It was not as if he became aggressive, started pulling on the leash, nothing like that. He didn’t even misbehave with other people, only pulled a little bit to sniff and play with other dogs, but stopped as she called him.

Now. If there is a man nearby, Max will stare him down until they walk past him. If, by any chance, a man looks at Karen, he will throw a little of his weight against her legs, making her step over a little, away from the guy. The times someone tried a catcall, Max growled, stood his ground and barked until he shooed off the “perp”.

Once, Max was distracted letting an old lady pet him on the sidewalk, while they waited for the light to turn, and this guy stopped by Karen’s side and asked if she wanted company. When ignored, he reached out to touch her hair, the beginning of a sentence starting to come out of his mouth, when, suddenly, Frank’s cuddly, loving, sweetheart of a pitbull turned back from the old lady, and just went off at the guy. Barking, growling, moving to jump on him, teeth out, a whole mess.

“Hey, hey, boy! Hey! Ok, ok, calm down, down, boy, down!” Karen tried, pulling on the leash, trying to pet him, soothe him back into calm, watching as the guy stumbled on his own feet and power walked away, the color scared off his face.

“Hey, what was that, calm down!” she insisted, but Max was standing his ground, still growling, watching the guy leave, not moving, no matter how hard Karen pulled on his leash or tried to pull him away.

When the man turned the corner, tough, he was back, the sweet boy she learned to love, looking up at her, tongue hanging out, face as if he was smiling up at her.

“That is so sweet”, said the old lady and Karen turned to her. “He protected you! That’s a very good idea. You’re a nice boy! Very nice boy!” This last part, of course, was to Max, who went back to his normal self, leaving the canine thug behind.

Now, Karen watches him as they go on their walks. Outbursts of attack are not usual, he mainly just pushes her out of the way and growls at men. Other than that, he is his usual self.

The first time she asked Frank about it, though, he looked at her as if she was not making any sense.

“Did you train Max to… I don’t know, be weary of men in the street?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I don’t know, lately he has been… Strange, he-”

“Did he attack someone?”

“No, nothing like that. I mean, not really. He jumped at a guy.”

“What guy?”

“I don’t know, Frank, this guy, he was trying to hit on me or something, tried to touch my hair, or maybe grab my arm. You should have seen it, Max just flipped out, went ballistic on him, I had to pull him back.”

He raised his brows.

“Way I see it, he was protecting you. You rather some punk touched you out of nowhere?”

“No, but… I don’t know, it’s not like him. Did you tell him to do that?”

He sat there and looked at her, and she could see the beginning of a thought inside his head.

“You think I… What, trained him, to do shit like that?”

“You didn’t?”

A beat. Another. A teeny tiny maybe not even there smirk. Mocking, almost.

“Karen.”

“Ok”, she said, already embarrassed, why would he do that, of course. That’s crazy. It’s his dog, she just looks after it sometimes. “Forget I said anything.”

“Maybe he’s just jealous. He spends a lot of time with you, dogs have that, they grow protective of people.”

“But it’s… See, it’s just with men.”

He shrugged.

“Maybe he doesn’t like men.”

“He likes you.”

“Yeah, but he’s mine. He knows me.”

She looked at the dog, munching on a chew toy, looking like the most innocent of creatures, in spite of his size.

“Yeah. Maybe it’s nothing.”

“Ok”, he said, closing the subject. “So. You have that file for me or what?”

.:.

He did it three more times. Once by jumping against a fence while she walked him past a group of men playing basketball. It was even kind of funny, the six or seven men who whistled and called at her cowering when Max jumped, making a scene, at the fence separating them.

The other time was at another man that thought he could walk close to her and chat her up. This one walked away while saying her dog ought to be on a shorter leash.

The third one was a fellow journalist. Karen did not like him at all, he was all jokes and funny things, all of them with a hint of disrespect, just shy enough to prevent her from saying anything.

She was out with Max on a drugstore run. She just needed some pills for her throat, it had been sore all day, and she left him by the door while she ran to get it. On her way out, while she reached for the leash, there he was, Jason, out of nowhere, picking her up off the ground, hugging her by her waist.

Max jumped before Karen could even let out a startled scream, throwing his weight on Jason, making him drop Karen. She landed on her feet, but Jason was tackled, and Max barked and growled, front paws on the man’s chest, teeth bared, inches away from his face.

“Max, Max, hey”, she said, still shaken, a little bit afraid to touch the dog in his angry state, but then touching his back, petting him. “Come on, boy, get off him. Come on.”

The dog still growled and pulled when Jason got up, threatening to jump him again if he moved near her.

“Christ, Jason, are you insane?” she asked, calming down herself, picking up her bag from the ground.

“I’m insane?! Me?! Your dog nearly bit my face off!”

“You jumped me, what the hell did you expect him to do?!”

“It was a joke, I’m your friend!”

“I did not see it was you! And he doesn’t know you, he thinks you’re just a creep picking me up from the fucking floor!”

“Karen, it was a hug!” argued the man, his face white, shaking, looking like a lightning had struck him. Good.

They went their separate ways, and Karen was actually feeling good. Max did not bite the idiot, only got him off her. Jason was pissed, but there was really nothing he could do, so he went about his day, leaving Karen to go back home with Max. They walked side by side, instead of Max leading the way like usual, her hand always brushing against one of his ears.

Protecting her, she realized.

When they got home, she sat on the floor let him sit on her legs, scratching his belly when he requested, even letting him lick her face when he tried.

“Thank you, boy”, she whispered.

“For what?” said Frank behind her, walking in right then.

She thought about telling him, but, knowing Frank, it was not a far fetched idea to think that he might go after Jason to “teach him a lesson” or something like that.

So, best if she keeps this between herself and Max.

“For keeping me company”, she said, turning to him. “He goes everywhere with me when he’s here. I’m never alone.”

She did not complain to Frank anymore, when Max antagonized men on the street. Partly because, now, she saw how nice it was to have someone to have her back if she needs it, and partly because she still thinks Frank is the one training him to do it, but he won’t admit it, and she doesn’t want him to think she’s assuming anything, or that she thinks he’s… That he… Well. Something.

Frank is actually with her one day, lying on the ground under her car while she is sitting on the stoop of her building, Max lying on the sidewalk, watching as people walked on, both enjoying a little bit of the morning sun.

“Ma’am”, Frank called. “Can you get me that rag over there?”

Dropping the magazine she was reading, Karen got up, just in time to see a guy walking by. He looked at her, not trying to hide his gaze on her chest.

“Morning”, he greeted as she walked to the other side of the sidewalk, towards Frank’s legs, and Max remained where he was, but stared at the guy and started growling loudly.

“Good morning”, she said back, at the same time Frank rolled from under the car, that wheeled board he was on making noise on the pavement.

With a look towards the dog, the man nodded at her and went on his way.

“Here”, she said to Frank, who took the rag and craned his head to look at the guy walking away, and then back at her. “You want anything? Water?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Karen was walking back towards the building, Max walking to settle closer to Frank, by the car. She was still close enough to hear when Frank said to his pet, in a hushed voice:

“Good boy.”

With a smile she tried to contain and a feeling of confirmation inside her, Karen climbed the stoop and opened the door, to go and get Frank’s water.


End file.
